According to Dr Al Sears, promoter of the PACE exercise method – a type of interval training – cardio just reduces the size of the heart and lungs.
The reason, he says, is that constant repetitious exercise at a moderate pace (cardio) encourages the body to build compact heart and lung muscle which enable them to deliver just that – a moderate pace for an extended time. A small heart and lungs are not good.
Interval training, on the other hand, produces elongated muscles because of the ‘burst then rest’ style of the interval training method.
Sears has proof of this as he has measured the lung capacity of his charges, then retested after 3 months of strenuous cardio, or 3 months of interval training.
There are problems with straight cardio. But you can combine it with interval training – this is best.
Read about the problems with cardio compared to interval training here.
